For keepers
Hosting, answered
What you earn, when it reaches you, and what you’re taking on by boarding someone else’s animal. If something here isn’t clear, write to us before you list — not after.
What you earn
You keep 85% of every booking.
Owners pay exactly the nightly rate you list — nothing is added on top. Our 15% comes out of your side, and card processing comes out of ours, not your payout.
- Owner pays — $25 × 5 nights
- $125.00
- ReptilEnclosures keeps — 15%
- −$18.75
- You receive
- $106.25
Sent to your Stripe account two days after pick-up. The owner is charged the moment you accept; we hold it until then, which is what makes a refund possible at all.
If a booking is cancelled
- You cancel, at any point. The owner is refunded in full, our fee included. You receive nothing.
- The owner cancels 7+ days before drop-off. Full refund, our fee included. Nothing was lost yet.
- The owner cancels 2–7 days before. They get 50% back. You keep the rest, less our fee.
- Inside 48 hours, or after drop-off. The booking settles as though it had run — you receive your usual payout, the same as the example above.
The tiers are a calendar, not a judgement call. Full detail is in the host terms.
Getting listed
- What does it cost to list?
- Nothing. No listing fee, no subscription, no charge for a month where nobody books you. We only earn when you do — the arithmetic is above.
- How long does setup take?
- About two minutes for the profile, then a few more for your first enclosure — dimensions, heating, UVB, misting, and photos of the setup as it actually stands.
- Does someone check my listing before it goes up?
- Yes. We read every host profile by hand before any of its listings appear publicly. That is a plausibility check on what you’ve written, not an inspection, a background check, or an endorsement — and it isn’t something to present to an owner as one.
- How many enclosures can I list?
- Up to 5. Each one is listed, priced and switched on or off separately.
- What if the enclosure is occupied, or I’m away?
- Flip the switch on your dashboard. The listing leaves the browse grid straight away and nobody can request it until you turn it back on. There’s no penalty for leaving it off, and no calendar to keep up to date.
Bookings
- Do I have to take every request?
- No. A request opens a conversation; nothing is booked until you accept it. Decline anything you’re not the right keeper for — a species you don’t keep, dates that don’t work, an owner whose answers worry you.
- Who sets the rate?
- You do, per night, per enclosure. The owner pays exactly that — we add nothing to their side, so a listing that says $25 a night charges $25 a night.
- When do I see the owner’s address and phone number?
- Once the booking is paid for, and not before. Accepting is free and reversible, so contact details unlocking at “accepted” would make collecting them a matter of sending requests nobody intends to pay. The same gate shows the owner your address for drop-off — you can withhold that for a particular booking, or by default, from your host profile.
- Why won’t a message send my phone number?
- Phone numbers, email addresses and off-platform handles are masked in messages and refused in profile and listing text. It keeps the husbandry and the handover in a thread you can both point back to later. Once you’ve met and agreed to board, swap whatever details you like.
Getting paid
- Do I need Stripe set up before I can list?
- No. You can list, take requests and accept bookings first. Your share simply waits until you’ve finished Stripe’s identity and bank verification, and goes out on the next run after that. Stripe holds those details — they never touch us.
- Why hold the money at all?
- Because a refund has to come from somewhere. The owner is charged when you accept, and that money sits with our payment processor until two days after pick-up. Those two days are the window in which an owner can say the animal came back in a bad way and still be made whole — without it, every dispute would be a chargeback against you.
- What happens to a payout if a stay is called off?
- The tiers above decide it, and where a cancellation leaves you owed something we transfer it at that point rather than waiting out the original dates.
- What about tax?
- What you earn here is yours to report. Stripe issues the relevant year-end forms where the thresholds require it.
The part worth reading twice
- Am I insured?
- Not by us. ReptilEnclosures introduces keepers to each other — we don’t take custody of an animal, inspect an enclosure, or insure a stay. Boarding a living animal carries real risk, and it sits between you and the owner. Agree the husbandry, the duration, and what happens if the animal becomes ill or escapes, in writing, before drop-off.
- What if something goes wrong between us?
- Disputes are between you and the owner; we don’t arbitrate them. While we still hold the money we can refund a booking by hand where you both agree, or where an animal’s welfare calls for it. Once a payout is released, it’s the two of you.
- Do I need a licence or my landlord’s permission?
- That depends on where you live and what you’re boarding, and it’s on you to know. Keeping someone else’s animals can carry requirements that keeping your own does not, and protected or venomous species carry their own.
Still something unanswered?
Write to support@reptilekitchen.com, or read the full terms — sections 4, 6 and 7 are the host ones.